Always Would (an Eleanor and Park story)
by ClaryGray76
Summary: Things change as time passes. It has been ten years since Eleanor and Park have seen each other. Yet their memories are as fresh as anytime. But the fear still lingers. Will time change how they look at each other? Or even, how they look at themselves...


_Things change as time passes…_

Park got out of his old Impala. He walked into Drastic Plastic, staring at the array of discs displayed. Ten years ago, he had been a child. He had been one who didn't understand what love meant and had no clue about how wonders and tragedies walked side by die on the earth. He was blind. He thought he could see but, in hindsight, he didn't even know what eyes were.

That was all before the star fell from heaven. The first thing he ever said to her was swear. But now he knew that it wasn't the starting that counted. It was the life you led after that.

Eleanor had changed the way he looked at the world. The way he looked at his house, his family and most of all, himself. He hadn't been able to understand or appreciate the second, better life she had given him. All he ever prayed for was a third chance. A chance he wouldn't throw away like the last two. For now, he knew what eyes were and how to use them to see the world in the right light.

Eleanor entered Omaha. The memories didn't even give her a moment to settle. They barged open the doors she had held shut for years and filled her brain with all the rotten years of her life. She remembered the night she had run to Minnesota. The night when her life had changed for the better.

Or almost.

She had spent the last ten years searching. Searching for a way she could leave him behind. He wasn't a stupid high school romance. He was a champion. The only thing she had won in life at one point. She wondered whether it was still the only thing she had won.

She had searched, not because she wanted to forget. Not because she thought she could. She knew she was lying to herself. But life would move on. She had to find some way to move on with it.

Coming back to Omaha might have been an option. She had heard that Richie had moved away. She hoped it was true. Coming back here was painful enough as it was. She didn't need him to make it worse.

She pulled up her car in front of the Drastic Plastic. It still looked just as she remembered from the time she had visited it with Park.

 _Park._ Even the thought of his name hurt. It had for the past ten years.

Maybe today was the day it stopped.

Park looked up as the door to the shop opened. He sucked in a deep breath of air.

There stood a tall, thin girl. She looked about twenty seven. She had a shapely body. She wore a pink top and the right sized blue jeans. She didn't have anything tied around her wrist. She looked nothing like anyone in his memory. Not at first sight at least.

When he looked closer, he could see the tiny freckled that dotted her entire body. Though it was mostly straightened out, a few familiar red curls spilled over her shoulders. He could see the small, familiar pendant on her neck, not at all looking like it was over ten years old. All though it seemed unnerving, Park could imagine exactly what she looked like beneath all the layers of sweaters. The one vision had never faded.

"Eleanor," he breathed, standing up.

She turned at the sound of her name. Her eyes grew wide. She dropped her bag on the floor and ran towards him. He opened his arms up and she threw herself into them.

When Eleanor saw him, she could hardly recognize him. He had a small moustache and wore a brown suit. He had a stripped blue tie on as well.

The boy she remembered wore all black and had a Walkman over his ears. He was silent and in a corner. The man who stood before her would be recognized even amongst thousands of people.

Then again, he always stood out to her.

She ran, dropping her purse onto the floor. He opened his arms and she fell into them, wrapping her own around his neck. He held her there for a long, quite moment. Eleanor pulled back to make sure this wasn't a fantasy. To make sure she wasn't going to wake up as always. This felt too real and it would hurt too badly.

"Park," she whispered, a question in her voice.

"Eleanor," he said. The firmness in his voice settled it. She fell back into his arms. He placed his head in her hair. "I've missed you so much."

She laughed. "You're still such a dork."

Park had led her to a seat in the next door café. They sat down side by side. Park was too scared to let go of her hand. If it was a dream, it would hurt too much when he woke up. It was so realistic…

Eleanor seemed to read his thoughts. "This isn't a dream, Park." The way she said his name settled it. "I'm really here."

He looked at her. "I can hardly believe it. You don't look like you!"

She laughed. The same laugh that echoes in his head when he woke up every morning. "I have my own money now. I've sent Ben to college. Maisie, Mouse and Little Richie are with me still. Mom moved to stay with Uncle Geoff. He really was my saviour."

Park nodded. "You look different. Not only the clothes."

She smiled. "I know. I took care of all that with some treatment. Turns out it was stress and _lack_ of food." She looked him over. "Enough about me. What about you? How are you doing? Where are you put up?" She showered him with questions and for once, he didn't mind answering.

"I stay in my grandparents' house, next to mom and dad. They passed away when I was I college. I started a publishing company in Omaha. I provide money for Jaime's college too."

She smiled at him. He couldn't hold back anymore. He cut to the real chase.

"Listen Eleanor," he began. "I know we were in high school then. It might have seemed like a crazy high school romance to you but it still means everything to me. I have never looked at another girl. Not the way I looked at you. I still look at you like that. You still mean everything to me. I stand by what I said then. I love you. I need you. That day was good bye for then. Not ever. Never ever."

She smiled at him. "Believe it or not, I came all the way here to recite the same speech to you. You still mean the world to me. I hate the fact that the first time I declared my feelings to you, it was in a postcard. But I ca say it clearly and surly now. For I am not the same, insecure, mentally chaotic girl I was then. I love you Park. More than anything in my entire life. I am yours and you are mine. Not for now. This is forever."

Park got up. "Eleanor," he said. "Sit on my chair."

She got up and sat down again, looking oddly at him. He knelt down on one knee in front of her and pulled out a box from his pocket. Everyone around were watching.

"Eleanor Douglas," he said and she clasped her hands against her mouth. "Would you do me the honour of being my wife?"

Eleanor stared down at Park and then into the box he had just opened. Inside sat a diamond studded ring. Even though her financial state was better, she could never afford something like that. But it wasn't that jewel wasn't what made her gape. It was the earnest face behind it. The real jewel in the deal.

"Eleanor?" he looked at her anxiously. She realized she hadn't said anything yet.

"Yes. Yes I will," she said. He took the ring and took her hand, slipping it onto her finger. He then grabbed her and began to kiss her. She knelt down on the floor in front of him. She held him and he held her. Soon, applause broke out from around them. They broke apart. He grinned at her. She was glad to see it hadn't changed. She was even happier to see the effect it had on her heart.

Park helped her off the ground and led her to his car. She had said yes. He was so glad.

This morning, he had woken up with the fear of going back into the past. He had trembled at the thought that his memories of her would be shredded after what happened today. He wasn't scared she wouldn't love him. He knew there was no such world. He was afraid she would think it impossible. Like she had before.

But the girl he saw today was different. She had faith, hope and a family. But she hadn't stopped being Eleanor. He still saw the nervous, crazy girl he had fallen in love with.

He knew he always would.


End file.
